Lovely Quilted Baskets

A tisket, a tasket, some lovely quilted baskets. That's what I found in my mailbox this past weekend. What a wonderful surprise!
 

A few months ago, I posted this picture of an antique basket quilt on my Facebook page. It was from an Etsy listing.
 

 

Marian, my blogging friend from Australia, also saw the quilt and fell in love with it too. However, I didn't love it enough to spend whatever the seller was asking. Marian did and she decided to splurge and buy it for herself. She e-mailed to tell me this and to make sure she wasn't sweeping it up before I had a chance to buy it myself. I thought about it and then quickly decided no, my daughter needed textbooks this semester much more than I needed that quilt. (Oh, the many sacrifices of motherhood!) I made sure Marian agreed to take good care of it and asked her to send me photos now and then. It felt good knowing that this beautiful quilt had a good home.

The quilt seems to be doing okay living with Marian. . . .

 

But the story continues and I think my story may inspire some of you who need a kick in the butt to begin fulfilling some of your own dreams. Not too long ago I was in a reflective mood, thinking about my quilting journey and the career path it led me to pursue and wondering where it would take me next. Ten years ago this past February I had just finished the manuscript for my first book, American Doll Quilts.  Martingale & Co. liked it and published it in 2004. You can imagine what a thrill this was for me, a novice quilter, and so, yes, I decided to mention the occasion on my Facebook page and also mention how grateful I was for the support of all of my fans. When Marian saw my FB post about celebrating my 10th anniversary, she decided to do something nice. She made me my very own basket quilt (that looks VERY similar to her lovely quilt) to help me commemorate this event. Can you believe it? How lucky am I to be surrounded by such generous and loving quilters? Turns out that American Doll Quilts was the book that got her started making little quilts and so I guess she was feeling nostalgic too.

Emma Jane now has a quilt for her cute little bed.

 (Emma Jane was made by Victor Brandt and gifted to me several years ago after some of his Gail Wilson dolls were included in my second book, Prairie Children & Their Quilts.)

Thank you, Marian. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
(E-mail me if you want to buy a bed just like this one to display your little quilts.)

This was the first quilt I made for that book and I still love it today. 

I will always be very grateful that I took a chance on myself and decided to jump in and attempt to do this "book thing" despite all the odds. It meant changing my part-time career from a freelance college textbook editor (after quitting my full-time job and deciding to work at home while my kids were young) to a full-time quilter. And a beginning quilter at that. What were the chances? So many people I knew "tsked tsked" at this - it was a huge risk to start a new career (and a small business) and there was a good chance of failure. What then? My husband supported me and my efforts 100 percent though and that's all I needed.

Inspired by my young daughter to make small quilts for her dolls, I was soon motivated to learn about children's quilts from the past and women's quilting history. And I felt compelled to share it with all of you. Because of my children and their fascination with American history as they were learning it, I became inspired to incorporate some of that into my quilt patterns and books. Many of you fell in love with my creations and ideas. So I've stuck with it.  The fact that I've continued to do this for 10 years, well . . . that's definitely something I need to celebrate. Thank you for all of your support over the years. And here's to ten more (if I'm lucky).

American Doll Quilts is sort of out of print now but there are still lots of copies floating around. I have a few used, signed copies (in good condition) available here, on my website or you can probably get a used (but not signed, if it matters) copy on Amazon.com. If you don't make small quilts yet, it may be just what you need to get started on your journey.

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If you didn't see this item on my Facebook page the other day, read about the famous Rose Percy doll and her fascinating life and career here.